GRINDSTONE REDUX (THE DOCUMENTARY)

There is a saying in America, “put your nose to the grindstone” which means “get to work”.

The underground indie scene certainly has had and will continue to have much work.

I recently viewed the dvd “Grindstone Redux” which was produced and assembled by Andrew Szava-Kovats, owner of True Age Records.

It covers the story of a network of underground musicians communicating by hand-written letters and cassettes both domestically and abroad during the ‘80’s.

Some of those featured included people we’ve written about previously, including Don Campau as well as Mikhail Bohonus, Jeff Chenault, Christopher Elston, Charles Goff III, Randy Greif, Al Margolis, Mark Lane, Chris Phinney and Andrew Szava-Kovats himself.

Their interviews are covering all the difficulties and pleasures encountered by the indie scene before the internet.

They had the opportunity to correspond with many people from other lands, trading a vast collection of musical talent and experimentation.

Keep in mind this was before the internet provided the luxury of instant gratification of listening to what you wanted and when you wanted.

Mail was slow.

It could take a week or a month from any individual but the thrill of finding something in your mailbox was something today’s internet generation will never experience.

It wasn’t just music, it was artwork.

It was the soul of the individual crafted in limited quantity.

In addition to the interviews you will also be able to experience footage from Mark Lane’s gigs in Europe, Al Margolis’s experimental music performances and much more.

The dvd came out during 2009 through True Age Media and will give you a taste of the cassette scene, American style,

A truly fascinating look into how musicians coped in the music industry when the music industry failed to support them.

The band's first lineup featured English guitarist "Mahavishnu" John McLaughlin, Panamanian drummer Billy Cobham, Irish bassist Rick Laird, Czechoslovakian keyboardist Jan Hammer, and American violinist Jerry Goodman. McLaughlin had worked with Cobham and Goodman on his third solo album My Goal's Beyond (1971), and asked Cobham to become […]

The interview below may be a case of confirmation bias on my part, but I will admit to considering that this guy makes a great deal of sense.As a parent I do ask myself if I raised my children to have unrealistic expectations of life.The answer to that is that I have.In saying that they can be anything, and they can do anything that they want, I was telling […]